YMMV / The Railway Series B 5 Troublesome Engines

• Accidental Aesop:
  • While the big engines' strike does backfire on them, they do get a station pilot as they wanted, insinuating that unions and defiances can work sometimes, but expect repercussions alongside it.
  • Alternatively, since the engines are only punished after bullying Edward, it can imply that strikes work a lot better if done civil, and you can dispute effectively without being a jerk about it.
• Alternative Character Interpretation: The opening of the first story describing Gordon and Henry as lonely without Thomas leaves some ambiguity whether the big engines are genuinely only upset over the extra work and bad circumstances, or are using it as an outlet to act up over genuinely missing Thomas, and push for a tank engine specifically to try and bring him back.
  • Further note that they aren't particularly happy when Edward is there, despite doing the same jobs that Thomas once did. Further more, they don't calm down when Percy first arrives, still rebelling and hissing at him despite him doing the job, but once he actually starts ingratiating himself; Gordon's commending Percy for quick thinking in "Percy Runs Away" is the moment the engines stop teasing him.